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6 opt their kids out of PARCC in WBR

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PORT ALLEN - Parents in West Baton Rouge parish were given the chance to opt their kids out of taking the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test.

Two meetings were held at the West Baton Rouge School Board Office so parents could air out concerns they have about common core and the PARCC test. Only about five people showed up at the meeting this morning and no parents showed up at the second meeting Thursday evening.

Superintendent Wes Watts said he wanted to open up the floor to parents to let them ask questions and voice their worries about the controversial topic.

"Some of the folks felt like the test was going to hurt their kids... that the information was being used or being sold. There's a lot of things out their. We wanted to clear their mind about that," he said.

Some parents told News 2 they're hoping laws can be changed.

"I'm hoping that if enough students here in Louisiana opt out that it will somehow have an effect on legislatures and it will help them to see that a lot of us are opposed to Common Core... and that we'd like it out of our schools. It's that simple," said Crystal Bell, a parent who decided to opt her children out of taking the test.

Tom and Danielle Shepard said a couple of reasons they decided to home school their sixth grader was because of the PARCC test and Common Core. They showed up to let the superintendent know their kids won't be taking the test, which is scheduled to begin March 16.

Tom pastors a church in the parish and said more than 200 people in the community asked them about starting a school at the church. The Shepards said they plan to have town hall meetings in their community to talk about everything with parents.

"We're just trying to be a part of the solution in a positive way and do what's best for our kids at the same time," said Danielle Shepard.

Superintendent Watts said that parents can opt out up until March 16 and he's willing to work with them, but he needs enough notice to make the necessary preparations.